Policies that aren’t worth the paper they’re written on

Last month, The City of London Police Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) launched their #steerclearoffraud media campaign, to warn motorists of the pitfalls of ghost brokers selling them car insurance. It’s all about how to avoid becoming a victim of ghost broking.

How do ghost brokers operate?

They might operate in several ways. Some examples that we see are:

Fake documents that the customers believe are genuine – when no insurance policy has been set up

An often significantly misrepresented policy, taking cash payment upfront from the customer then setting up a payment plan – which will subsequently default

A commercial motor policy which affords them access to self-administer the Motor Insurance Database, where they can add vehicles at will.

Time spent investigating these policies – stopping you from spending time with your genuine customers

Credit card chargebacks which can leave you in bad debt situations.

How can you recognise ghost broking?

Multiple policies taken out using the same details such as email address, postcode, mobile number and bank account details

Multiple payment attempts using different credit cards

Commercial policy with rapid expansion of vehicles and/or an urgency to self-administer their policy.

What should you do?

It’s so important to us that we protect you and your customers. If you have any concerns about fraud-related activity and the impacts it may have on your business, please contact our Fraud Team at consumerfraud_ib@aviva.co.uk. Our team is keen to help you in any way they can. If you have ideas about tackling fraud in our industry, please email theloop@aviva.co.uk.